Boston Blog

Broad researchers on developing small compounds to target p53 pathway

A “5 Questions” feature from the Broad Institute in Cambridge:

In a paper published January 5, 2011 in Science Translational Medicine, Anna Mandinova and Sam Lee, both researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital and associate members of the Broad, describe the obstacles and promise of developing small compounds that target the p53 pathway, the most common pathway involved in cancer.

Broad08-006.jpgQ1. Why does p53 have such a foundational role in cancer disease pathways?

SL: P53 is known as a guardian of the genome. In 1993, Science magazine named it as the molecule of the year. The human genome is constantly under assault by carcinogens and other stressors. Over time, a cell’s DNA can become mutated. P53 is on the front lines protecting the genome from further mishap by essentially directing a damaged cell to take one for the team and die, a process called apoptosis. Hence, its nom de guerre as guardian of our genomes.

For more on the institute, see recent Globe story

Photo by Len Rubenstein for the Broad Institute

Comments

Comments are closed.